"The new space benefits not only the youngsters housed here but also allows for less crowding and better health in our general cat holding areas," said Director Laurie Ringquist. "Competing in the $100K Challenge was an incredibly rewarding experience, and we are so thankful to have the funding to help us complete this project, which we expect will help us further reduce our euthanasia rate and place more healthy kittens in loving homes."

Each spring and summer the Shelter is flooded with hundreds of newborn kittens and nursing moms. This group is most at risk to contract life-threatening upper respiratory infections and should be isolated from the rest of the cat population. The previous shelter configuration did not include any space for isolation.

Shelter staff and City facilities staff analyzed the use of several areas of the shelter as well as animal intake trends and created a plan to renovate a small dog room, storage closets and a dish washing/laundry area for use as a designated kitten nursery isolation area. New arrivals can now be isolated pending placement in a foster home or becoming available for adoption.

Grant funding was used specifically to purchase new kennels and other items needed to outfit this room as well as to purchase soundproofing panels to make existing cat kennels less noisy and, therefore, less stressful to the animals.

For more information about adopting a pet or becoming a foster parent visit the Shelter's website at www.bloomington.in.gov/animalshelter or its Facebook page at facebook.com/COBanimalshelter